Editorial Comment by Frank Levine:
Finally, after more than two decades of self-imposed exile in the West, Mikhail Gorbachev, the man who pushed the once-powerful Soviet Union into the abyss, suddenly has "buyer's remorse," after realizing he was blinded by the glittering materialism of Western capitalism, and duped by its political leaders.
Could it be that he sees the writing on the wall? Could it be that the ship he jumped to is now sinking faster the ship he left? Could it be that after more than two decades, he finally understands the true human cost of capitalism and wants to spend his remaining years in Russia, seen not as a traitor, but as a misunderstood world figure?
Little can now be done to resurrect Gorbachev in the eyes of the Russian people.
He betrayal of the worldwide socialist movement-after more than a century of bloody sacrifice by hundreds of millions of workers around the world--is seen as one of the greatest human tragedies of the 20th Century -- with consequences seen extending far into the future.
The "new world order" envisioned and promoted by Gorbachev as the salvation of the Soviet people and Eastern Europe, marked not the death of communism as many believe; but the abandonment of the world's working class to predatory neo-liberalism, and unchecked neo-imperialism.
He believed, apparently, that the only way to compete against the Western emerging technologies, was to join the West at the dinner table never realizing that he, and the lives of hundreds of millions, was the menu.
The following story is provided through the Novosti new service.
MOSCOW, May 7 (RIA Novosti) - Promises made by U.S. leaders cannot be trusted, former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph published on Wednesday.
"The Americans promised that NATO wouldn't move beyond the boundaries of Germany after the Cold War, but now half of central and eastern Europe are members, so what happened to their promises? It shows they cannot be trusted," he said in Paris.
He also said that Washington's claims that a missile defense system it is planning to build in central Europe was aimed exclusively at countering the threat from so-called rogue states could not be believed either.
The Pentagon's missile shield deployment plans continue to be a major bone of contention in relations between the U.S. and Russia. Moscow considers the project a threat to its national security.
Gorbachev said the missile shield plan jeopardized world peace and could lead to a new Cold War.
He continued that that "erecting elements of missile defense is taking the arms race to the next level. It is a very dangerous step".
"I sometimes have a feeling that the United States is going to wage war against the entire world," the former Soviet leader said.
"The United States cannot tolerate anyone acting independently. Every U.S. president has to have a war," he concluded, also saying that the world had squandered the chance in the decade after the Cold War to "build a new world order."
